Page 81 of Deep (Chicago Underground 8)
Adrian looked up and saw me. His eyes lightened with relief, and he rushed over to embrace me. I lost any semblance of calm and threw my arms around him, crying.
“Oh, Ella,” was all he said, and in those words was a world of understanding.
We had both loved Philip. We had both lost him—never had a chance, we realized far too late.
“He’s okay,” I said, gasping. Because I knew Adrian would worry. “He’s okay.”
Adri
an pulled back and cupped my face. “And you?”
“I’m…” Not okay. Almost shaking with grief over the loss of him. It wasn’t new, though. This was how it felt to be with Philip, always knowing he would leave eventually, living in the future pain. “I’m here,” I said at least. Because that was all I could offer, my presence, a small and strained smile. “I’m safe.”
All my life I had been searching for acceptance, destined to love people who would not love me back. Parents I had never known and parents who had adopted me. Philip. It wouldn’t break me. I had been through enough to know that now, but it was cold comfort.
“My brother?” I asked.
Adrian glanced back, a worried expression on his face. “No serious injuries. At least, no physical ones. He’s not talking much.”
I knew if anyone could give him the support and safety he would need, it would be Adrian. He had done that for me years ago in those weeks I’d lived in Philip’s home. And he was doing it for me now. “Do you think he was…”
The word refused to come out. Raped.
A dark thundercloud crossed Adrian’s face, and I remembered that he had also slept with Marco—a one-night stand that had led to the betrayal. “He said no. They’ll examine him at the hospital to be sure.”
My stomach clenched as I realized what someone would find if they examined me: traced of Philip’s come on my back, bruises covering my body from his hard hands and the sharp rocks in the tunnel. No, I couldn’t bear for anyone to look at me now. “I want to go home. Adrian, I need to go home.”
His expression turned sympathetic. “You should get checked out, just to be sure you’re okay. It won’t get him in trouble, whatever happens.”
I wasn’t certain of that, considering how desperate Barnes was to put Philip behind bars. It wasn’t only worry for Philip though. It was worry for myself. I felt like I was fragile, made of thin glass in dark colors, like the stained-glass windows lining the church. If they touched me, I would break.
“Please,” I whispered. “Help me get out of here.”
I imagined me sneaking away into the back alley while Adrian distracted them, but he winked at me. “Leave it to me.”
I blinked, surprised out of my panic. “What do you mean?”
“Give me a little credit,” he said, mock affronted. “I didn’t work for Philip for years and not pick up any tricks of my own.”
He looked over my shoulder, and his eyes narrowed. I glanced back to see the cop, Barnes, hurrying down the steps—heading straight for us.
I tensed up, but Adrian shook his head with a faint smile. “Don’t worry about him.”
“Easy for you to say,” I muttered.
He just laughed, which seemed to make Barnes’s expression darken as he approached.
“You,” he said, accusing, as if I had Philip stashed away just to spite him. “I have questions for you.”
“And she’ll be happy to cooperate,” Adrian said smoothly, “as soon as her lawyer is present. He’s just over there speaking to your colleagues. Drew Laramie. I understand you’ve met.”
Barnes scoffed. “Philip’s lawyer? He can hardly represent her interests at the same time.”
“He’s not Philip’s lawyer anymore,” I said. “And I would trust Drew with my life.”
He’d already saved me once. And he’d saved Philip countless times. As if conjuring him, he circled a flashing police cruiser and spotted us. And I knew that I would be okay, at least physically.
Emotionally—that was a different story.
